Chapter 12: Leaving for war

Rohan examined himself in the glass. Despite his young age of fourteen, he was already the size of an average adult, and the black reinforced leather armor he wore underscored his warrior build.

His black hair was tied back, held in place by a simple purple ribbon.

Before putting on his leather gloves, he picked up the Essence Stone and activated it to observe its status.

Race: human

Age: 14 years old

Constitution: 3.1

Mana: 26.4 / 26.4

Spirit: 11

Over the months he had continued to train as usual, and his body had developed well. He was now on his way to becoming a rank 3 Beginner Warrior.

He pulled out his warrior badge and connected it with the black stone. The 1 that was written on it then disappeared to make way for a 2. He had never changed it before today, seeing no interest in it. He then hung his badge on his chest and put away the Essence Stone.

He picked up the leather bag that was left in a corner and which had different potions in it, the ones Edwin had given him, but also the ones Mardrick had offered him for his birthday.

He had already thinked about how to organize his potions. There were, after all, too many of them inside, and carrying a bag with too many potions was going to bother him more than anything in a fight.

He had therefore chosen, rather than leaving a few potions here, to put it in a second bag that he had prepared beforehand. One will be strapped to his horse with the bulk of the stock, while the other will be the leather bag he will use during a fight. In this one, he chooses to only place 10 mana potions, the others being no more useful than that.

He also put the Essence Stone in there, as it was an important object, and also put some bread that his butler had already prepared. He placed the bag on his lower back, slightly to the left, so that it was the easiest to access, without hampering his movements during a potential fight.

He retrieved his sword and scabbard from his bed and tied the last one to his hip, before putting on his gloves.

He retrieved his helmet, put it under his left arm, and picked up the larger bag that was on his feet to put it over his shoulder. This bag was prepared by Jonas, and a lot of stuff was in there including a few rations, and the rest of the potions.

He was now ready.

Ready to go into battle.

He sighed, and turned to his open door. He crossed it in a few strides, and, coming out of his room, fell on his butler Jonas, who was waiting there.

Strange things to see on his usually paralyzed face, sadness and regret could be seen in his eyes. Sadness to see the young master go to war, and regret for not being able to accompany him.

"Fuck it, you should save this face for my funeral you know."

As he continued on his way toward the entrance of the building, he spoke with his butler following him.

"Take care of the mansion, I'll be back in not too long. And I promise you if at that point I see even a speck of dust, I'll actually change my butler."

"Don't worry, young master, there has never been a better butler than me! The mansion will be resplendent."

"Haaaa, goodbye to the good life. Can you imagine? I wouldn't even be able to drink fruit juice there, it's going to be boring as hell."

"Don't worry young master, I put a bottle of juice in your things, you will have some for the next few days at least. I also put some books that you have not read yet, I'm sure you will love it young master! "

"Hahaha, beautiful! I'll have enough to occupy myself between two battles spent seeing deads, blood and guts flying all around me. I'm almost in a rush to be there!" He paused, and, almost outside, handed his helmet to his butler. "Here take my helmet and follow me outside, the departure is close."

"Yes young master!"

As they exited the building, in front of them was a group of soldiers equipping horses. The captain kept bellowing orders. When he saw the young master come out of the mansion, he walked over and bowed to greet him.

"Good morning, young master. Your horse has been prepared with care, all you need to do is to tie your things to it, and it will be good."

He motioned to one of the soldiers who were nearby to take care of Rohan's belongings. As the latter handed him his bag, he answered the captain.

"Hello, captain. How soon are we ready to go?"

"In five minutes, young master. Me and your guards are ready to follow everywhere! We will defend you at the risk of our lives, do not worry about it!"

"There will be some rules during our wonderful holidays captain. And the first one is: 'Prioritize your life and once it is safe, then at that moment you can think of coming to save me' is it understood? I don't want meat shields following me, I want soldiers who fight with me and not for me. "

Rohan walked over to his horse with his butler Jonas and the captain at his heels. This horse, already saddled and carrying his things, was a very good quality horse and easy to handle. He was trained to go on the battlefields, and Rohan had already ridden it a few times.

Although most of the warriors didn't like to use mounts in battle, they were still a good way to get around. Anyway, Rohan was only a beginning warrior, so a horse will always be useful to him in battle.

For an intermediate warrior though, a horse was more of a heavy weight than anything else. They were practically as fast in running speed, and being on a horse meant they couldn't use their Charge capacity and lost some of their agility.

The only thing a horse provided was additional mass when a cavalry charge was launched, but with the strength that these warriors had, it didn't add much.

To an advanced warrior, a horse was completely useless and only served as a means of locomotion. Never will one of these warriors use one in battle.

As Rohan mounted his horse, Jonas spoke up.

"Remember young master, you may be a warrior, but please watch yourselves!"

"Don't worry, Jonas, I plan to slip into the ranks and fight only normal soldiers. As soon as I meet a warrior, I flee immediately. Come on, give me my helmet, captain, whenever you want."

"Well received, young master."

This is how Rohan, accompanied by a dozen guards, headed out of the city.

Arriving on a plain a few kilometers from the city, tents dotted a large area. Horsemen kept arriving from all over the duchy. Carts, carrying stocks of food and water, could also be seen in the middle of this camp of an impressive size.

Rohan and his guards walked towards the center, where the noble area was.

Arriving there, a soldier moved towards Rohan, and when he saw the crest on his chest, bowed before bringing him to the tents of the counts, where his was already installed.

It was large enough to hold several people upright without any problems.

As he jumped off his horse, he found himself face to face with another warrior. The latter's gaze remained for a moment on Rohan's badge signifying that he was a Rank 2 Beginner Warrior.

"Rohan, let's forget what happened between us, today we are going to war, so we are comrade. After all, we will fight for our duchy!"

With these words, he turned around and entered the tent next to Rohan's. The latter, a little lost, tilted his head towards the captain who was behind him.

"Captain, do I know this one?"

"Hmm, young master, he is the count Gourdo's son, Mileim"

"Hoo, I didn't recognize him with the helmet on. Anyway, let's go in, my dad must be in a meeting I guess. So we have time to rest before the big departure."

In a large tent in the center of the camp, nine people were around a table. These nine people were the Duke, General Edwin, the wizard Mardrick and the six counts of the duchies.

Among these counts, only two were intermediate warriors. While the rest were only beginner warriors. With the resources they had, forcing a promotion to become a warrior was not difficult, but climbing the ranks was almost impossible for them.

The general pointed to certain parts of the map.

"We will leave tomorrow morning at sunrise. We will follow this road, and, after seven days, we will meet in front of this first town."

His finger moved from where he was now and followed a wide road to stop at the first city in the king's own territory. It would only take less than two days of traveling on horseback to reach this area.

But the infantry will need at least triple the time even when they will walk quickly. To stay in optimal shape without exhausting the soldiers and warding off possible problems, he had planned seven days.

"We will have to launch the assault as quickly as possible, there is little chance that there will be a big defense, and the longer we wait, the more risk there will be. Moreover, it is a small town, it is certainly not made for defense. So it will fall without difficulty. After a day, we will continue on this road to find this second city. It is only two days away. The defense will undoubtedly be heavier. But we have a thousand warriors, the kingdom will not have had time to muster enough defense."

He pointed to a road on the king's lands heading towards the second city. From the sight of this journey, it was clear that they didn't just want to conquer territory. What they were aiming for was the capital of Prasthana, where the king was living, and that was their only target.

The general ended by pointing the finger at this capital.

"From this city, we will only have a short distance to reach the capital. We will take a simple one-day break in front of the walls, and we will launch the assault. The defenses of the capitals will be far more heavier than the other two cities, and there will be many more defenders. At this point, we will lose everything, or win our way out from this famine."